Book Review Time!

I just finished another great book- “Out of my Mind” by Sharon Draper.  This book follows Melody as she learns about herself and how to ‘deal’ with middle school.  She’s funny, loves people, and super smart.  Oh, and she also happens to have cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone/posture.  Everyone with CP have different abilities and struggles.  For instance, sometimes people with CP can walk, but others need assistance (like Melody).  Commonly, they struggle with swallowing and eye muscle imbalance (where their eyes have trouble focusing on the same object at the same time).  CP is caused by some abnormality or disruption in brain development (oftentimes before a child is even born), but in many cases the cause is unknown. 

“Out of my Mind” gives us a snapshot of what it’s like for Melody to navigate middle school, parents, friends, schoolwork, teachers, and siblings…all while working with her abilities and struggles.  Spoiler- many of the difficulties that she goes through are similar to what most middle school kiddos go through, just with a different flavor!

Highly recommend this read for any age, but especially elementary school to middle school aged kiddos!